


Closer

by Novamore



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Ex-Girlfriends, F/F, Kinda, Reunion, Some angst, Songfic, juvia x lucy, lucy x juvia, luvia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-28
Updated: 2018-01-28
Packaged: 2019-03-10 11:31:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13500890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Novamore/pseuds/Novamore
Summary: Lucy is convinced that fate has it out for her. As if worrying about paying her rent wasn't enough stress, now she finds herself faced with an ex she hasn't seen in years. Sometimes fate can be a cruel mistress, but other times, it gives you exactly what you need when you least expect it.





	Closer

Life was a bitch. It lures you in with hope and false promises only to leave you in a shitty bar moaning over your overdue rent.

“Another one hun?”

Lucy turned her attention from her drink to the bartender. A sweet woman named Mirajane worked the same nights Lucy was dragged to the bar by Natsu. Usually the two would spend hours chatting in-between Mira serving customers, but that wasn’t the case tonight. Tonight, Lucy was full of despair and she didn’t want to take her bitterness out on Mirajane.

“No, I should probably slow down a bit.” Lucy answered while forcing a smile.

“Yeah you probably should,” Mira teased. "You’ve only been here for an hour and you're almost near your limit.”

Lucy blushed in embarrassment. Lucy isn’t a heavy drinker, but she did get carried away sometimes. After one particularly bad night, she asked Mira to limit her to no more than 6 drinks. It was usually rare for her to have more than 3 drinks, and never so early in the night. Mira knew this better than anyone which is why her expression changed from teasing to worried.

“Is everything okay Lucy? I haven’t seen you look this down in months?”

Lucy pushed her drink away while answering, “My landlord raised my rent again. I thought I could still afford it but Natsu’s birthday was around the time it was due, and I ended up spending a bit too much on his gift. I couldn’t pay all of it, so I still have to pay a late fee as well as the rest of the amount.”

Mira leaned over the bar to squeeze Lucy’s hand in comfort. “Don’t worry Lucy. I’m sure everything will work out okay.”

She tried to smile back at her, but it came out more of a grimace. “I hope so. I really don’t want to go back to living with Natsu and the guys.” Lucy hopped off the bar stool. “Thanks for the talk Mirajane, but I probably shouldn’t stay so close to the bar. Drowning my worries in alcohol is too expensive. If I keep buying drinks, I’m gonna end up homeless.”

“Well you could always get someone else to buy drinks for you.” Mira winked. “There’s plenty of guys and girls here that would buy every bottle off the shelf just to get a chance with you.”

Lucy laughed and waved her goodbye while she left the bar. She walked towards the crowd of swaying bodies hoping to find a head of pink hair, only to be blocked by the sheer number of people. The bar hired a band to play that night. Lucy never heard of them, but they must have been popular to draw such a large crowd. Nevertheless, Lucy looked around for a chair or stool she could stand on to get a better view.

“Lucy? Is that you?” Lucy froze. A feeling of dread filled her stomach.

“Lucy.” A soft hand reached out and touched her shoulder. She glanced at the person out of the corner of eye.

When she saw the blue hair, she immediately turned away.

“Nope! Sorry, it looks like you got the wrong person.” She tried to walk away but the grip on her shoulder tightened.  
“Lulu, I know that’s you.” Lucy gritted her teeth and turned to face the other woman.

“Don’t call me that!” She hissed. “What do you want Juvia?”

Juvia looked shocked at her outburst before a look of understanding crossed her face. She played with the hem of her dark blue dress before answering. “Lulu isn’t still mad at Juvia, is she?”

Lucy crossed her arms. “It’s Lucy. And no, I’m not mad at you Juvia. Why would you think that?”

“Because you sound angry.” Juvia muttered. She let go of her dress to clasp Lucy’s hand in her own. “If Lucy isn’t angry with Juvia, then can they talk?”

Despite everything, Lucy still felt her heart flutter at the sight of her hand in Juvia’s. The other woman was looking at her with such a hopeful look, one that always caused butterflies to fly in Lucy’s stomach. That’s the same look Juvia had when she asked her out all those years ago.

“Fine, we can talk. But only for a few minutes.”

Juvia smiled and tighten her grip on the hand still clasped in hers. She led the blonde through the crowd and towards the door. Lucy noticed the awed looks people were giving Juvia but shrugged it off. Juvia always got strange looks when they went out.

The two stepped out of the front door and stopped in the parking lot.

“Juvia thinks you look really nice tonight Lucy.”

“Can you stop doing that.” Lucy muttered even though her traitorous cheeks warmed at the compliment.

“Stop doing what?”

“Talking in the 3rd person.”

Juvia tilted her head in confusion. “But you always liked it when I did that. You said it was cute.”

Lucy looked away. “That was 4 years ago Juvia, things change in that amount of time.”

A heavy silence fell before Juvia broke it. “So, you _are_ upset with me.” Her somber tone made this seem more of a statement than a question.

“Well yeah a little.” Lucy let go of the other’s hand while stepping backwards. “Can you blame me? I haven’t heard from you in 4 years Juvia.”

Juvia bit her lip. “I left you a text message.”

Those words made Lucy’s blood boil. Maybe it was the alcohol, combined with the stress she felt all week because of her landlord, but she felt something inside of her snap. “I loved you Juvia and you left without a word!” Lucy’s voice broke as she choked back tears. “You didn’t even say goodbye. Did our time together mean anything to you?”

“Lucy.” A hand reached out to re-intertwine their fingers. Juvia pulled her closer. “Lucy please look at me. Please!”

When Lucy finally faced her, she was surprised to find tears streaming down the bluenette’s face. “I never meant to hurt you Lulu.”

“Then why did you leave me?” Lucy whispered.

“To find myself.” Juvia whispered back. She tugged on Lucy’s hand again and pulled the other woman closer. She didn’t stop until Lucy was fully in her arms.

Then, she pressed her forehead against the blonde’s and started her story.

“Do you remember how we first met?”

Lucy couldn’t help but smile at the memory. “How could I forget? You thought I was flirting with the guy you liked so you followed me around for an entire week screaming that I was your ‘love rival’.”

Juvia hummed with a blush of embarrassment. “And do you remember what happened after that?”

“Yeah. I got tired of you stalking me, so I invited you over for dinner.”

“I never did ask you why you did that.”

“Because I thought you needed it.” Lucy smiled, getting lost in her memories. “It was the start of our first year at university. Everyone was so nervous and trying to make friends. I thought that maybe you wanted friends too, but you didn’t know how to get them.”

The blush on Juvia’s cheeks darkened. “Lucy, that was the first time anyone had ever done anything nice for me. I never had a friend before, and I never received such kindness from a stranger. We formed a bond that night which caused strange thoughts to irrupt within me. I kept thinking that I wanted to be more like you. Kind, caring, compassionate, beautiful. I thought that if I could be all those things, I would finally be happy. I keep trying to get close to you, so I could learn how to be all those things, but then something within me changed. I started to enjoy spending time with you. And then I started to fall in love with you. I thought that someone like you could never fall for someone like me, but to my surprise, you did.” Juvia paused in her story to let out a joyless smile at the shocked look on Lucy’s face. “I was ecstatic when we started going out. I was so in love with you Lucy, please believe me on that. But then those thoughts start to plague my mind again. I couldn’t understand why such a beautiful and amazing person like you would have feelings for someone like me. I figured it was only a matter of time before you realized you could do better than me. I realized that the only way to better myself would be to go on a soul-searching journey to figure out who I was. I didn’t think I would be gone for long but obviously I was wrong.”

“Why didn’t you tell me about this?” Lucy interrupted. She knew that Juvia struggled with insecurities, but she never imagined that it affected her that much. The realization that her girlfriend was fighting internal battles without Lucy being there to offer support hurt her deeply.

“I didn’t want you to realize how imperfect I was.” It was then that Lucy realized she was crying again. “But it doesn’t matter now. It’s been 4 years Lucy and I’m still the broken mess I was when I left. I haven’t changed or grown at all. I thought leaving would save our relationship but all I did was make you hate me.”

“Juvia! Our relationship was never in danger!” Lucy leaned in close to brush her lips against Juvia’s. “And I could never hate you.”

Juvia froze. “But you’re upset with me!”

“Of course, I’m upset with you! You should have told me about all this.” Lucy wrapped her arms around Juvia’s waist. “I’m not perfect either Juvia. No one is. And we’re still young! I don’t think anyone truly knows who they are at our age. And that’s okay because we have plenty of time to figure it out.” She squeezed their hands. “And we could do that together Juvia. You don’t have to do things on your own anymore.”

“Lucy…” Juvia whispered before pulling her into a tight hug. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry Lucy.”

“I know.” Lucy whispered back.

In that moment, everything surrounding the two disappeared. The parking lot, the music from the bar, even the stress that had been bottling up inside of Lucy vanished. At that moment, nothing existed outside the two women trying to get back what was broken years ago.

“Hold me close tonight; even if it is just for tonight. Please Juvia, I need to feel you.”

“Lulu,” Juvia smiled. “I finally have you back in my arms. I’m never letting you go again.”

**Author's Note:**

> I have a headcanon that canon Juvia suffers from extreme insecurities and anxiety which leads her to act the way she does. You can imagine how much trouble this can cause in a relationship. Sometimes fear can make you do stupid things.


End file.
